The Impact of Bilingualism on Language Development

Abstract

Bilingualism is the ability to use two languages. Definitions of bilingualism range from a minimal proficiency in two languages to an advanced level of proficiency which allows the speaker to function and appear as a native-like speaker of two languages. A person may be bilingual by virtue of having grown up learning and using two languages simultaneously (simultaneous bilingualism before age of three years old). Or they may become bilingual by learning a second language sometime after their first language. This is known as sequential bilingualism (after the age of three years). Individual bilinguals are classified into five different categories depend on the linguistic, cognitive, developmental and social dimensions. Grey matter density is higher in the left inferior parietal cortex in bilinguals compared to monolinguals. This increase is even more pronounced in early relative to late bilinguals and this density correlates positively with the degree of second language proficiency and negatively with age of acquisition. Impact of bilingualism on normal language development is increase performance in conflict task,mental flexibility also,Bilingual children are better than monolingual children in excutive control,cognitive ability and attention and have protective effect of cognitive aging. Impact of bilingualism on specific language impairment is increase the delay because specific language impairment children exhibitlexical,morphosyntactic, and discourse-pragmatic abilities below theirtypically developing age peers, and in the case of morphosyntax, they often exhibit abilities below younger typically developingchildren as well, signaling that morphosyntaxis the most highly affected linguistic domain in specific language impairment.